God of War: Chains of Olympus

Before Kratos became a god, he was still really, really pissed off.

A number of moons ago, adventurous and loyal followers of Kratos journeyed to the lands of the damned (a.k.a. the Internet) and promised their souls for a glimpse at his latest endeavor. These minions will now be rewarded with their treasure as Sony has begun shipping the limited edition demo of God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Dubbed God of War: Chains of Olympus -- Special Edition: Battle of Attica, the demo with what is perhaps the longest title of all time features a portion of the game's opening level. Starting atop the roof of a small building on the shores of Attica, Kratos oversees the Greek forces attempting to hold back the impeding Persian forces.

If this setup sounds familiar, it's because it is. We wrote about the opening bits up to when the Basilisk busts through the door back in May, and then from there to when you climb atop a tower and get another look at the beast from a distance at this year's E3. Ready At Dawn once again starts from the same spot, but this demo goes further than the previous two and gives us our first look at one of the new magic types that Kratos will pick up along the way.

After reaching the top of the tower wall, you head to the right and perform a little bit of a circus act as you carefully balance yourself across a thin board. Inside the next door, one of the Persian warlords appears and spits out a few insults at Kratos.

Kratos does not like being insulted.

The battle with the warlord isn't all that difficult, but keep in mind that other God of War demos for the PS2 games have generally been pretty generous with your health level. The warlord blocks a number of your attacks and comes at you with his sword with a couple strong swipes, but his biggest attack comes in the form of his Efreet magic. This spell casts a giant, fiery torso above him that comes crashing down with a hammer and devastating anything within a nearby area. It's fairly easy to dodge if you're not overzealous as the buildup gives you plenty of warning, but it's quite damaging when he lands it.

The good news is that once he's defeated, the Efreet magic is yours. As has been the case with the previous two titles, you're given infinite use of the spell during a short encounter to practice its effect, but after that you're only able to use it a couple times before you need to replenish your magic in some way.

This article was created in part from the excellent article at www.ign.com and we acknowledge their work